Alters and the Mann family in Supernanny.

Reading Diane F. Alter's article on Class and Taste in the Simpsons, and Eva Illouz's Emotions, Imagination and Consumption, I can conclude that firstly, emotion is, instead of desire, a better way to measure or examine the sociology of consumption. Thus, emotion provides a better way for sociologists to investigate the pattern of consumption, in other words, how our tastes are formed. Secondly, taste is largely altered by class distinction. Thirdly, gender differences and gender roles also have a lot to do with our value to different cultures.

I think these few points are relatively easy to grasp, but I found Alter's article really interesting in a way that the families she interviews have emphasized a lot on the importance of being middle class, even though they might not be on an economical, and financial point of view. This reminds me of the Mann Family from Supernanny. The Mann's is clearly a middle class family, from the way they dress, the car they drive, the house they live in, to their leisure activities (going to the beach), we can obviously call them a middle class bourgeois. Yet, the mother still remains traditionally the home maker of the household. This family, in this sense, looks very similar to the Hartman family Diane Alters interviewed. (the dad is the primary breadwinner, and the mom works part time but mainly does all the housework) I don't know if it was the working class values that make the kids behave the way they did, but it is quite obvious that Supernanny is trying to reinforce some middle class quality to the family. By getting the dad involved in teaching the kids, for example, she certainly has broken the gender stereotypes traditionally portrayed in working class family. By successfully taming the children, especially the eldest child, it looks like Supernanny does not only bring harmony to the family again, she also leads the Mann's to a higher class privilege.